Compensation
by Reidluver
Summary: After helping out the hydrangea bush, Doumeki comes down with a fatal cold. Watanuki goes to Yuuko for help, but her solution for the problem is definitely not at the top on his list of things he'd like to do. Watanuki hated his life.


**Hi! Yes, it's another xxxHolic oneshot from me. I really enjoy writing about this manga. The friendship between Doumeki and Watanuki is very interesting to write about. **

**The main reason behind me writing this was because ever since the hydrangea incident it always annoyed me how Doumeki didn't seem to suffer any ill effects. _Hello!_ He was in the rain for ten freakin' hours! He had to have gotten at least a little sick! But I figure it would detract from the story they were going with, so here's my interpretation of what happened. **

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Watanuki felt like he was in heaven. _Everything _had gone perfectly! He and Himawari had spent a wonderful day together without any interruption from the idiot Doumeki, she had fully enjoyed the bento he made especially for her, and they had both stayed later after school to help out their biology teacher! And walking home together was heavenly! He was able to finally tell some jokes to make Himawari laugh without Doumeki guessing them before he even finished! Yes, the day was much better without Doumeki around.

"I'm back~!" he announced, dancing into the shop.

"Watanuki's back! Watanuki's back!" Maru and Moro chanted, mimicking the boy's movements.

"Oh?" Yuuko smirked at his behavior. Today she was dressed in a silk kimono with ornate dragonflies sewn into the material. "And what has put you in such a good mood?"

"I had the most wonderful day!" he purred, clasping his hands together. "Doumeki wasn't at school today, so I got to spend the whole day with Himawari-chan~!"

Yuuko narrowed her eyes. "Nothing wrong happened?"

Watanuki frowned as he thought back. "Well, the biology teacher spilt some hot coffee on her hand while drinking it and got a small burn, but she's fine."

"Who poured the coffee for her?"

"Ah . . . Himawari." Watanuki never understood why Yuuko never seemed to like Himawari. It was like she was trying to blame Himawari for every little bad thing that happened! Yet he had long decided that it was just her way of making his life more miserable and learned to ignore it.

"So you were unable to give Doumeki his bento?" Yuuko leaned back into her couch and drew a long breath from her pipe. When she exhaled the air around her turned gray as the small tendrils of smoke danced around her head.

Watanuki glanced at the floor guiltily. He had made an extra special bento for Doumeki—_and Himawari too—_though he would never admit it. After how the idiot had helped him with the incident with the hydrangea bush he figured he at least owed the guy. Curse him for always going so far out of his way to help him! Watanuki couldn't understand why Doumeki kept doing that for him.

"Yeah, I wasn't."

Yuuko smiled. "Then that just means you'll have to make another one tomorrow!"

"And we get to eat the one you made today!" Mokona shouted, jumping onto his shoulder.

"Himawari-chan and I split it for a snack. There's none left!"

Mokona and Yuuko pouted. "Then you'll just have to make us another one!"

"And bring us some sake!"

As Watanuki grumbled something about "slave labor" and "crazy drunks" Yuuko called after him.

"Watanuki!" He turned around.

Yuuko stared at him seriously. "Is Doumeki all right?"

The young boy frowned. "Why wouldn't he be?"

* * *

When Watanuki saw that Doumeki's seat was once again empty, he tried to convince himself that it was nothing.

_He's probably just helping out at the temple,_ he figured. _Or maybe his parents are traveling for something and he's gone with them._ Right, that had to be it! Watanuki quickly put the aggravating boy out of his mind and started dreaming about what to do with another day of just him and Himawari.

"I feel bad for Doumeki-kun."

"_WHAT?!_" Watanuki couldn't believe his ears. They were sitting down, eating lunch together (the two of them!) and the first thing out of Himawari's mouth after greeting him and complimenting the food was _concern_ for Doumeki!? Even when the fool wasn't around he was still messing up Watanuki's life!

"Wh-what do you mean by that, Himawari-chan?" he asked nervously. "He's probably just skipping school to help out at the temple, right?"

She shook her head. (_Oh how he loved it when her hair bounced back and forth!)_ "I heard that he called in sick yesterday. I had hoped that he would be better by today since you probably were missing him a lot."

_Miss him? How could anyone miss him? It's not like he did anything anyway, so there isn't that much difference from him being there or not—other than the fact that his presence is so annoying!_

"I'm sure he'll be back tomorrow," he said quickly. "I bet it's nothing more than a seventy-two hour flu."

Himawari smiled. "I guess so! It has to be boring for him to be all by himself without his parents."

"They're traveling?"

"Yes, didn't you know? I figured that with you being his best friend you would know!"

"Well—how did you know?" Watanuki felt like crying. This wasn't how things were supposed to go!

"I went to visit him yesterday!" Himawari said happily. "I volunteered to bring him his homework." Her expression turned sad. "He was so sick."

"Oh, he's just acting!" Watanuki folded his arms angrily. "Besides—if it was serious then he would go and see a doctor."

"I suppose you're right!" Himawari said. "You had to have spent a lot of time with him yesterday so you should know!" As she resumed eating the gyudon domburi and fried rice that Watanuki had prepared, he cried inside at how blind Himawari was to their nonexistent "friendship." Why did she always assume they were close?

Watanuki was still stressing over the unpleasant lunch when he entered Yuuko's shop.

"Not there again?"

"Ahhhhh!" How could that woman always scare him like that? "What are you talking about?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Doumeki, of course. Was he missing from school again?" Watanuki folded his arms in irritation.

"Yeah. Himawari-chan said that he had a little flu or something. Nothing to worry about, right? People don't die from a little flu."

"How are you so sure this is a 'little flu?'" She fixed him with one of her _I'm-serious-and-all-knowing _looks.

"Because it's Doumeki!" Watanuki protested, waving his arms for emphasis. "He's a tough guy and should be able to handle himself."

"What if it's not?"

"Then I hope he's smart enough to know to go to a doctor," Watanuki mumbled. Could the day get any worse?

Apparently it could. "Well then—you should go bring him some chicken noodle soup to make him feel better! I heard it's a great Western remedy for colds."

And that is how Watanuki found himself walking to Doumeki's temple in a huff, with some chicken noodle soup in tow.

"Why do I have to keep doing stuff with this guy?" he wondered aloud. "People seem to think we're joined at the hip, when the truth is we hate each other's guts!" He sighed. At least he got a little break from having to work in the shop. Yet knowing Yuuko, she was probably counting the clock to know how long she could keep him there later to make up for it.

When he reached the front door, Watanuki paused with his hand outstretched. Should he knock? There was the chance that Doumeki was sleeping or (he tried not to think about it) was too sick to come to the door. He mulled over a decision for a moment longer then figured he should just walk in. Surprisingly the door was unlocked (he'd have to have a word with the idiot for leaving the front door open like that) and made his way into the house.

"Oi, Doumeki!" he called out at he took off his shoes. "Yuuko wanted me to bring over some soup! Accept it with the highest praise and thanks!" Silence.

"Oi!" Still no answer. "Well, if you think I'm going to just walk around to find you then—" Watanuki stopped his rambling when he heard some violent sneezing and coughing coming from the hall to his left. It sounded rather bad, and he unwillingly found himself running towards the noise. He had only been in two other rooms besides the kitchen and had no idea where Doumeki's room would be.

Thankfully though (or perhaps not) all the noise Doumeki was making led Watanuki right to the room. When he yanked open the sliding door, he found himself unable to keep his mouth from dropping open in shock.

Were it not for the violent shaking, Watanuki would have assumed the archer to be dead. His normal tanned skin was whiter than Watanuki's, there were deep bags under his eyes, and his hair was plastered to his sweaty face. He was wrapped in thick, woolly blankets but was still shivering like he was trapped in ice.

"Doumeki!" Remembering at the last minute to set the soup container gently on the ground, Watanuki rushed to his side. "Oi, Doumeki!"

The sickly boy opened his eyes and took a moment to distinguish who was in front of him. "Wha . . . what are you doing here . . . id-idio—" His sentence was cut off by another fit of sneezing and coughing that shook his entire body. It hurt Watanuki to see him like this. As much as he annoyed him, Watanuki always saw Doumeki as a strong and impervious person.

"You're the idiot!" he said when Doumeki's fit had subsided. For some reason his voice seemed more frantic than usual. "Why haven't you gone to a doctor yet?"

Doumeki struggled with an answer. "C-can't move . . . too—too c-c-cold . . . " Watanuki placed the back of his hand against Doumeki's forehead but snatched it back quickly. His forehead was steaming! How could someone seem so cold when their skin felt so hot?

"I'm going to get Yuuko to help me bring you to a doctor." Before Doumeki could object, Watanuki sprinted out of the room and out of the house, having just barely remembered to put his shoes on.

In the back of Doumeki's feverish mind he felt he should be angry at Watanuki taking charge like that, but he found he didn't care. He pulled the blankets around himself tighter and tried to get warmer.

* * *

"Yuuko! Yuuko! I need your help bringing Doumeki to a doctor! He's really sick! The idiot thought he could just stay at home and—what are you doing?"

The shop owner was sitting at the small table where they usually ate with a dozen or so bottles of what looked to be chemicals. She was humming and pouring various amounts of each into a central vial. "Making medicine," she said cheerfully.

"Oh no, no-no-no-no-no," Watanuki said as he shook his head. "I'm not going to let you feed him some suspicious looking medicine that you made! You're not even a doctor!"

"Is it not your wish to save Doumeki?" Watanuki blinked.

"What do you mean _save?_ He's just got a bad cold! I need help bringing him to a doctor's office so please help me!"

Yuuko sighed and continued mixing. "He was standing in the rain for ten hours, being soaked to the bone and the wind didn't do much for his health either. This cold he has is quite fatal." Watanuki gulped at Yuuko's blunt declaration.

"Then we need to bring him to a hospital! There's no time to waste on your silly medicine! We should get him some professional help."

"There's no need to bring him to a hospital, bother with all the paperwork and the payments, and pull away those good doctors who could spend their time on another person when you've got a perfectly good solution right here." She glanced at him with a playful expression, dangling the completed vial in Watanuki's face. "Would you like a wish granted?"

Watanuki opened his mouth in protest, paused, then sighed. Why did Yuuko toy with him so? "Yes. What's the payment?"

"Simple!" She certainly looked a lot happier than she should have been. "You need to feed him this medicine every two hours, and you need to take care of him for an equivalent exchange of time that he spent looking after you."

Watanuki blanched at the implication. "You mean—"

"Yep! You have to watch over Doumeki and take care of him for the next ten hours—or he will die."

* * *

When Watanuki returned, he was afraid that he was too late. Doumeki wasn't shivering as much, but it didn't look like he was breathing too much either. Each shallow breath he took appeared to cause him pain, and every so often Watanuki could hear a barely audible whimper.

"Oh, please don't die on me," Watanuki said as he poured the necessary amount of medicine. He then lifted Doumeki into a half-seated position with the boy resting against his shoulder. It was difficult, but in a moment's time he had succeeded in forcing the medicine down the nearly unconscious patient. Immediately after drinking the liquid Doumeki was once again racked with uncontrollable sneezing and coughing. Watanuki awkwardly held onto him, even rubbing small circles into his back. He could vaguely remember his mother doing that to him when he was younger.

Once it was over Doumeki collapsed against Watanuki, his strength nearly depleted. Watanuki panicked for a moment until he noticed that Doumeki's breathing was much more controlled and normal. He breathed a sigh of relief and gently laid the boy back down. Doumeki was still shivering so Watanuki covered him with the blankets as best as he could.

"I'll go see if I can get you more blankets." As he searched through the house, Watanuki worried about how best to treat Doumeki. He obviously felt really cold, but at the same time Watanuki knew his body was overheating. Which should he treat?

Five minutes later, Watanuki returned with three other blankets, some white towels, and a basin of cold water. He figured to do a combination—warm up the body with blankets but then try to stall the fever with cold towels. After covering Doumeki with the extra blankets his shivering decreased some, which Watanuki took as a good sign. He then folded one of the towels, placed it in the water, wrung it out, and then placed it on Doumeki's forehead. He didn't even flinch.

Now what? Watanuki struggled with an answer when the phone suddenly rang. Confused, he quickly vacated the room and answered.

"How's he doing?" _Of course_ it was Yuuko.

"Better, I think. I gave him some of the medicine and he's breathing easier, but he's still shivering and burning up."

"What have you done to help him?"

"I put some extra blankets over him and a cold cloth on his forehead."

"Awww," Yuuko cooed. "Watanuki is turning out to be such a great nurse!"

"Watanuki is the perfect nurse!" Mokona yelled.

"No I'm not!" he yelled, staring at the phone as if he could see the people on the other end. "I don't even want to be here!"

"Once he's conscious enough to talk you need to make sure he eats something," Yuuko continued. "He probably hasn't eaten anything since he's been sick."

Watanuki sighed. "He would starve to death if I wasn't always making him food." Yuuko laughed.

"Just be there for him while he fights back the worst of the fever."

"Talking helps!" Mokona said.

"Yes," Yuuko agreed, "talking to a person in a coma or high fever can help connect them to reality through the sound of your voice and they are more likely to stay alive."

"I understand." After hanging up the phone Watanuki groaned in frustration at his luck. He could tell this was going to be a very long ten hours.

However, as he sat down next to Doumeki, Watanuki was reminded about how _he_ had stayed in the rain for ten hours. Doumeki had no idea when Watanuki would be back but he dutifully waited and waited. He could have easily given up and just left Watanuki there, but he stayed. He had even tried to dig him out with his bare hands. After Yuuko had told him what happened Watanuki took care to put it out of his mind so he wouldn't have had to dwell on it.

It wasn't that he wasn't grateful, but rather because Watanuki didn't know how to react. Raising himself for all those years had made him completely independent. (The fact that spirits chased him all the time and that everyone thought he was too odd to even approach didn't do much for his social life either) All Watanuki knew was that he had to depend on himself to survive and he did so. Having to rely on someone else and acknowledge their help was something foreign to him.

And then there was the fact that it was Doumeki who was always the one saving and helping him. He didn't really know why, but Doumeki was just one of those people who irritated Watanuki. He didn't need a reason. He just did.

Anyway, that didn't change the fact that he was now deathly ill because of him. Watanuki took off the cloth on Doumeki's forehead and noticed that most of the water had evaporated already. It was even a little warm.

"Calm your fever down, would ya?" Watanuki soaked the cloth once more and then dabbed Doumeki's face with it.

"I could cook on your face, did you know that? It certainly would save me time since you eat faster than I can cook." Once Doumeki's face was moist he laid the cloth back on his forehead. He sighed.

"Yuuko says that I should talk to you. What she doesn't understand is that there's nothing to talk about with you! I have a hard enough time speaking to you when you're awake!" He pointed dramatically at Doumeki. "It's because you hardly talk at all! How can you expect to go through life without talking?"

Watanuki played with the water from the basin as he spoke. "I almost feel like I need to show more emotion when around you because you never show any. Why is that?" He clenched his fists. "That's one of the things I can't stand about you! The way you act can't even be considered human!" He sighed. "It's a lot more fun when you talk back, you know."

Because he could think of nothing else, Watanuki started to talk about Himawari, Yuuko, Mokona, Maru and Moro, and how he became a good cook. He figured that Doumeki would appreciate the last one, seeing as how all he did was demand Watanuki make him out-of-season dishes. During that time he forced another helping of medicine down Doumeki's throat. Similar to the first time, Doumeki sneezed and coughed, though it wasn't as much. He didn't shake as much after that, and it seemed to Watanuki that his fever started to go down.

"If only I knew where a thermometer was I could see exactly what your temperature is." Doumeki shifted in the blankets and slowly opened his eyes. He stared at the ceiling for a few seconds and then turned his head to face Watanuki.

"Oh good! You're finally awake," Watanuki said, sighing in relief. "I've been waiting here for three hours and you've just laid there!"

Doumeki simply blinked and then tried to sit up.

"Oi! You can't get up yet!" Watanuki protested, trying to push him back down. "You've just woken up from a bad fever! Lie down!"

"I . . . need to get . . . up." Doumeki unsuccessfully tried to brush Watanuki away.

"I'm the doctor here and you're the patient!" Watanuki put a hand on each shoulder and slammed Doumeki against the pillows. "Don't you know how it works?"

Doumeki narrowed his eyes. "I need to use the restroom."

"Oh." Watanuki's felt his face flush and he quickly let go of Doumeki. "Go then!"

"Idiot."

"Who're you calling the idiot?!" As Watanuki rambled on Doumeki pushed himself into a seated position, silently cursing himself for how much that simple action drained him. He was leaning forward, panting heavily as beads of sweat ran down his face. His physical state stopped Watanuki's energetic complaints.

"Let me help you," he said, placing an arm underneath Doumeki's.

"I can do it," Doumeki said, lightly brushing Watanuki off. The part-timer rolled his eyes and waited. It looked like Doumeki was even more stubborn when he was sick.

A few minutes later, Doumeki was standing on his own two feet, albeit a little wobbly. He took a step forward and would have fallen if Watanuki hadn't been there.

"I'm just going to help you walk, stupid," Watanuki mumbled. Recognizing defeat, Doumeki slung an arm around Watanuki and the two of them made their way down the hall.

"Why do you weigh so much?" Truthfully, Doumeki didn't weigh much at all. He was much lighter than he should have been but Watanuki felt more at ease in familiar territory.

Five minutes later they were back in Doumeki's room. "Yuuko told me to give you this chicken noodle soup to make you feel better," Watanuki instructed as he poured Doumeki a bowl. The boy was propped up against a few pillows so he could sit up on his own. "Here."

They sat in silence as Doumeki ate some of the soup. After seven spoonfuls he handed it back to Watanuki, who stared at him angrily. "What, you don't like it?" Doumeki shook his head.

"I'm not that hungry."

Watanuki's jaw almost hit the ground. _Doumeki—_not hungry?! For some reason that scared Watanuki more than anything.

"What do you mean, not hungry? You're _always_ hungry! Why aren't you hungry?!"

Doumeki just shrugged. "I'm just n—" He bent over and started coughing again while Watanuki fretted over what to do next. Doumeki not being hungry had to be a very bad sign. What infuriated him was that the dolt didn't seem to care. How can a person not be concerned when they were that sick?

Once the fit subsided Doumeki leaned against the pillows in exhaustion. Watanuki quickly dipped another towel into the basin and put it against Doumeki's forehead. Doumeki stared at him for a few minutes, apparently deep in thought.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked finally.

"Yuuko told me to!" Watanuki said quickly. Then his scowl disappeared and he avoided Doumeki's eyes. "And . . . because I felt bad that you're sick because of me," he mumbled.

Doumeki raised an eyebrow. "But it's not your fault."

"You're right—it's yours!" Watanuki yelled, pointing to him dramatically. "You're the one who stayed out in the rain all that time! You should have gotten under the umbrella or quickly got some warmer clothes or something! And here—" (he thrust the bowl at Doumeki) "—you're going to finish this bowl if I have to force feed you!"

Watanuki swore he could see a faint smirk on the archer's face. "You're going to feed me?"

"If that's what it takes," Watanuki grumbled. Yuuko had told him to specifically make sure he ate, so that's what he was going to do.

"I'm not going to eat it," Doumeki said simply. "It would make me sick—" He was cut off by Watanuki thrusting the spoon into his mouth.

Watanuki smirked triumphantly. "In case you haven't noticed yet idiot, you're already sick." The boy was hoping that he had succeeded in convincing Doumeki to eat and that he would feed himself, but he was wrong. Doumeki just swallowed the soup and waited patiently.

"I hate you, you know that." Watanuki finished spoon feeding Doumeki the rest of the soup, all the while praying that Himawari never found out about this. "Now you need to take this medicine." He held out the small cup. "And _you're_ going to drink it yourself." Doumeki eyed the proffered liquid.

"Where did you get it?"

"Yuuko made it, and told me to give it to you every two hours." Doumeki took the cup and drained it easily. As he handed the cup back to Watanuki, he was once again assaulted by a coughing fit. It didn't seem as violent as all the others, but not by much.

"Where is your thermometer?"

"In the medicine cabinet in the kitchen." Watanuki returned a moment later and put the thermometer in Doumeki's mouth. _39.3°C! _

The horror must have shown on his face. "What is it?"

"Really high. Any higher and you'd be dead." Doumeki reached up to touch his forehead.

"I guess so."

There was complete silence for about five minutes. "So . . . why aren't your parents here taking care of you?" Watanuki asked. He really hated awkward silences.

"They're far away in another district, helping the construction and purification of a new temple."

"That doesn't answer my question, idiot!"

"They were gone before I got sick."

"Well, why didn't you call them? I'm sure they would come straight back if you were really sick."

Doumeki shrugged. "Yes, but I didn't want to bother them in their work. Besides, I was sick a lot when I was younger."

"Really?" Watanuki unwillingly found himself a little interested in learning more about Doumeki's past. "Why were you sick all the time?"

"I don't know." Doumeki looked up at the ceiling as if recalling a memory. "My grandfather would always watch over me when my parents couldn't."

"Your grandfather was really special to you, wasn't he?" Watanuki asked softly. He hadn't really hung out with Doumeki that long, but one thing he did know was that the boy talked about his grandfather a lot. Watanuki had only lived with his parents before they died and never met any grandparents or other relatives for that matter, so he couldn't relate all that much. It seemed to him that Doumeki was closer to his grandfather than his parents.

"I-is he still around?" Watanuki asked, already knowing the answer. Doumeki shook his head.

"He died when I was in the fifth grade." Was it his imagination, or did Doumeki look sad?

"I'm sorry," he said quickly. Doumeki just shrugged.

"People die. It's natural."

Watanuki clenched his fists angrily. "I'm just trying to be nice here! Why can't you accept other people's kindness? You're not going to have any friends if you keep—" He stopped at the look on Doumeki's face. It looked like he was in pain and Watanuki felt awful. Did he actually hurt the guy's feelings? Of course, he always threw insults at him but seeing as how Doumeki never responded Watanuki never felt like his words actually meant anything.

"Oi . . . I'm—I'm really sorry, I—" It was then that Watanuki realized that Doumeki's pasty skin had a greenish tint to it. Doumeki covered his mouth.

"I told you I wasn't hungry," he mumbled. Watanuki wasted no time in yanking Doumeki off the ground and the both of them rushed to the restroom, making it just in time. As Doumeki emptied out the scant contents of his stomach Watanuki felt another wave of guilt. Doumeki was throwing up because Watanuki forced him to eat more food than he felt like.

But how was he supposed to know this would happen?! Yuuko told him to feed him! Watanuki felt rather helpless. How could he help Doumeki when all he did was make him feel worse?

"Sorry about that," Watanuki said quietly. They were back in Doumeki's room.

"Doesn't matter."

"Let's just try some liquids for now, okay?" Watanuki quickly prepared some ginger tea and helped Doumeki sip half of it. Throwing up had used up most of his energy and he laid back against the pillows in exhaustion.

"You need to sleep for a while. My mother would always say that was the best medicine," Watanuki said as he replaced the cloth on Doumeki's forehead. Doumeki merely nodded weakly and fell asleep almost instantly. Watanuki just sat there for a few minutes, watching Doumeki as if he expected him to disappear before his eyes. He then got up and searched around the house for something to do while Doumeki was sleeping. Perhaps Doumeki had some manga he could read.

His stomach grumbled while looking through Doumeki's room and he figured that eating was on the top of his list. As he passed the clock in the kitchen he was startled. Five and a half hours had already come and gone! It had also been about six hours since he had eaten, which he attributed to his rampant hunger. He had been so focused on taking care of Doumeki that he hadn't given any thought to himself.

After a simple dinner of sukiyaki, Watanuki returned to Doumeki's room. He would have liked to eat there, but was worried the smell of food would make Doumeki throw up again. Watanuki carefully put the thermometer in Doumeki's mouth, being sure to not wake him. It was 38.8°C. A little better than before, but the fever still needed to break. The slim boy glanced at the clock and noticed it was time for another dosage of medicine.

"Oi, Doumeki," Watanuki whispered, gently prodding the boy awake. "You need to take some more medicine." Doumeki's eyes opened slightly and he opened his mouth. Once he swallowed it he threw a coughing fit again, but it was the most normal coughing Watanuki had heard from him the entire time he had been at Doumeki's house. The archer fell asleep immediately, and Watanuki wondered if he had been truly awake at all.

Doumeki slept for another hour and a half, during which time Watanuki had completely read through all the manga the archer owned (which wasn't really that much) and half of all the temple and priest books he had. There was a lot about the different types of exorcism for spirits and Watanuki was quite fascinated in spite of himself.

The large, grandfather clock chimed and Watanuki stretched as he listened to figure out the time. It was already ten-thirty! Watanuki groaned as his thoughts immediately went to his backpack, currently lying on the floor in Yuuko's shop. If only he had thought of bringing it with him. He could just run and go get it, but it was too late for him to walk around outside by himself. It would be suicide. Plus, there was the worry that somehow him leaving would break the contract he made with Yuuko and then Doumeki would die. Doumeki's life was more important than a day's worth of homework—

"GAAAAAHHH!" Watanuki pulled at his hair and thrashed about wildly. Did he seriously just think that?! The world was coming to an end! Being in his house for too long was starting to affect his brain—

"You're giving me a headache."

"_I'm_ giving you a headache?! _You're_ the one—" Watanuki stopped himself, remembering the situation he was in. "Hmph!" He folded his arms angrily. "You should get some more sleep you know."

Doumeki shook his head and propped himself up on his pillows. "I'm bored."

"Well, what do you want me to do about it?!"

"Get my shogi set."

"Huh?" Watanuki had never heard of shogi before. "What is that?"

"Over there, in the bottom drawer." Watanuki followed where Doumeki was pointing and pulled out a thin wooden box. He brought it over to Doumeki who opened it and pulled out a wooden board separated into many squares, and then a large amount of tiles.

"Oh, no! If this is anything like mahjong, then I'm not playing!" Doumeki rolled his eyes.

"Relax, it's much simpler and even you could understand it."

"What's that supposed to mean!?" As Doumeki set up the tiles he had another coughing fit, but it was very mild. Watanuki was still concerned though. "How about I bring us some more tea while you get it ready?"

Five minutes later found Watanuki fully engrossed in Doumeki's explanation of how to play shogi. Unlike mahjong, the different plays one could make actually made sense, and he found them much easier to remember. That being said though, he knew he would have to play it a couple times to be able to remember them all properly.

Doumeki won the first game in a matter of minutes, much to Watanuki's annoyance. The archer told Watanuki he did decent for his first time, but that he kept mixing up the gold and silver general. As they played more and more, the games grew longer and Watanuki grew more confident. _One of these times,_ he kept telling himself, _I'm going to beat him!_ They played for about an hour, only stopping once so Doumeki could drink some more medicine.

Finally, during the fifteenth game—"_Checkmate!_" Watanuki threw his arms up in the air in celebration and did a little, half-seated dance. "I did it! I finally beat you at a game!"

Doumeki simply nodded, but Watanuki could have sworn there was a shadow of a smirk on his face. "That's enough games for now."

"What are you talking about?! I'm finally on a roll! I know I can beat you now! What, are you too chicken? Afraid that the great Watanuki-sama will beat you at everything from now on?"

"No. I'm just tired." Doumeki leaned back against his pillows and shut his eyes.

As he picked up the game pieces, Watanuki muttered under his breath. "Of course. Just when I'm actually having fun with this oaf he goes and tries to ruin it." After returning the game back to where he found it, Watanuki noticed Doumeki was staring at him. "What?!"

"I'm bored."

"Then why did you say to stop playing?! What are you, five? Can't you figure out something to do by yourself? Why do I have to come up with something?"

There was silence for a few moments as Doumeki thought about what to do. Watanuki simply sat beside him, clenching his fist in anger, running through all the reasons he couldn't hurt Doumeki in an attempt to not strangle him.

"Tell me a story."

"_What?!_" Of all the things Watanuki was expecting, this was certainly not one of them.

Doumeki shrugged. "Whenever I was sick, my grandfather would tell me a story."

"Yeah? Well, I'm not your grandpa. I'm not good at telling stories, as you have eagerly pointed out! Remember the night we all told ghost stories?" He thought his story was pretty good, but apparently no one else did.

"I could tell you a story, and then you could tell me one."

"Huh? Why would you tell me a story? You're the one who's sick!"

"I know a lot of interesting ones," Doumeki said. "I can remember some of the stories that my grandfather told me when he was fighting spirits."

Watanuki considered the offer. On one hand, it was Doumeki telling the story, but on the other, it could be exciting if it was from a priest who exorcised spirits. "Fine. Maybe I could tell you a story about some of the spirits I've had to put up with."

The story Doumeki told wasn't half bad. It certainly would have been more exciting if he was more animated about it, but even still, Watanuki found himself enjoying it. There was this spirit that would possess the body of a young girl and then pretend to drown in a river. When people would come and try to save her, the spirit would then drag them down under and kill them. Once it was Watanuki's turn, he tried to stall for time to come up with a story by heating two bowls of chicken noodle soup. Remembering his previous mistake, Watanuki made sure to not pester Doumeki to eat more than he felt comfortable. Thankfully, this time he was able to finish half the bowl, which Watanuki took as a good sign.

"Okay, well—this happened to me when I was just starting fourth grade . . . . "

The two of them continued swapping stories for another hour. Watanuki would describe a spirit he had seen before and then Doumeki would tell one of his grandfather's stories about that specific spirit. Despite the fact that he hated the spirits and some of them were downright creepy, it felt nice to finally put a name to them. When Doumeki started to drowse off, Watanuki quickly prepared the last of the medicine.

"Oi, stay awake okay? Just one more." This time Doumeki hardly coughed at all, but he collapsed right after he finished drinking. Watanuki had been helping him sit up and almost fell down from the sudden and unexpected dead weight. Watanuki muttered a few choice words and then tucked Doumeki in so he would be more comfortable.

"It's one in the morning," he said to himself, barely above a whisper. "My ten hours are up." There was no way he could go home now, so he was stuck in Doumeki's house. He glanced at the little mess from their small dinner and all the books Watanuki had been looking at. "I should . . . clean this . . . up first before . . . "

* * *

"I wonder how he's doing," Yuuko whispered to Mokona. The ten hours were up and she couldn't help but be curious. Hopefully, Watanuki hadn't been stupid enough to walk home by himself and she wanted to make sure he was safe.

"The house is still intact," Mokona whispered.

Yuuko chuckled. "I'm surprised Watanuki didn't destroy it." The two of them easily entered the house and found Doumeki's room. The sight that greeted them was too sweet for words.

Doumeki was lying down on his mat, looking simply exhausted but no longer sick. Watanuki was dead to the world, sleeping next to Doumeki. He slept with his head against Doumeki's chest, with a book propped open on his face.

Yuuko walked up to Watanuki and carefully picked up the book and took off his glasses, being sure not to wake him. Watanuki yawned and snuggled a little closer to Doumeki in an attempt to get more comfortable. Mokona hopped forward and pulled one of the extra blankets around Watanuki. The Witch of Dimensions stood in silence for a moment, staring down at the boys.

"You're going to miss them, huh?" Mokona asked.

Yuuko flashed the creature a half smile and patted it on the head. "I knew what I was getting into, but I wasn't prepared for how close I'd get to them. I just wish I had more time." Mokona gave Yuuko a tight hug around the neck. "Well, I suppose it's time for us to go. But first—" Yuuko reached into her bag, pulled out a video camera, and placed it on the ground facing the two boys.

"There's no way I'm missing something like this," Yuuko said with a mischievous grin. "This is priceless."

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed it! I know the whole, "___ takes care of ___ when they're sick" is a bit overdone, but seeing as how Doumeki getting sick SHOULD have been canon, I think this one is passable, don't you?**


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